The Wizard of Warcraft
by profigymulligan
Summary: Harry discovers a rare book which will transform his life and destiny and lead him beyond his world and into another.
1. Chapter 1

The Wizard of Warcraft.

A/N: This story takes inspiration from Wizard rune master by Plums as well as enter the Silver Flame by Sam Stone, which is a story on fanficarchive. This story has entered my mind while waiting for inspiration for the next great adventure, so hopefully once I begin writing this, I can continue my other story.

Many of you will notice that it starts in second year in the HP universe. It will go through until the death of Voldemort and then transition over to Azarath. Character pairings yet to be determined. As I have stated before I am legally blind so I obviously cannot play Warcraft, so I need to take descriptions and stuff from the various knowledge repositories on the web. This story will be categorised as Hp to begin with until the transition to Azarath, which may even be a separate story, not sure yet. Reviews always welcome.

Chapter 1.

Location: Chamber of Secrets May 1993.

Harry Potter was officially tired. He had just gone through a quite exhausting year where mystery upon mystery was thrust upon him as the chamber of secrets continued to be hazardous to the student population's health. What was also encroaching upon him was the shunning he had received at the hands of the school as for some stupid reason known only to them, they believed that he was the heir of Slytherin and setting the monster onto the students. What seemed to elude their simple minds was the fact that his best friend was a new blood; he much preferred this term than that of muggleborn, which sounded too much like a derogatory term. It also seemed to elude most of the student population that his own mother was a new blood as well and that he had never shown an opinion which would give them suspicion that he had such beliefs about pureblood superiority. In fact he tended to shun those who professed such beliefs such as Draco Malfoy.

The suspicion had really only come to an end though once his best friend Hermione Granger was petrified during the beginning of a Quidditch match. While they believed him capable of attacking people for a stupid reason, apparently it did not also follow that he would also attack his best friend. The more harry observed the wizarding world, the more he agreed with Hermione's first year observation that wizards do not possess an ounce of logic. Many may have also thought that Ron weasley was his best friend, but harry wasn't stupid, contrary to most beliefs within the school. He knew from the first introduction to Ron that there was an ulterior motive with Ron's friendship. The very fact that he looked at Harry's scar when he introduced himself showed Harry that Ron wanted to be friends with the boy-who-lived rather than with Harry himself. Hermione on the other hand was interested in him as a person and the only thing she had done when she had learnt his name initially was to reference which books she had read which he was featured in.

This had also been confirmed with the behaviour of Ron and Hermione during his first two years at Hogwarts. Ron showed a certain disregard for Harry's safety during these times and considered everything to be a great adventure. This was in stark contrast to Hermione who was always concerned with his safety. The fact that after every Quidditch match, he saw nail marks on her face from when she clutched at her face and how she had blown up at the revelation that Professor Dumbledore had probably instigated the whole Philosopher's stone incident showed Harry more than anything else that Hermione was his true friend.

Ron's disregard had been shown once more at the beginning of Harry's second year with his completely stupid idea to fly the Weasley's car to Hogwarts. Harry had been perfectly happy to contact the school from the Leaky Cauldron, which was not far from Kings Cross, but Ron wouldn't have that. Apparently it wasn't Gryffindor enough for him. He had literally manhandled Harry and his belongings into the car and had locked him in before he could raise an objection. Harry had been almost fed up enough to actually biff Ron in the jaw to escape, but once again, circumstances took over before he could and he had found himself in the air before he could react.

Once the whole car situation was over and the school had calmed down, Harry had managed to take Hermione aside one day without Ron knowing. He had then explained to her that he hadn't wanted anything to do with the whole flying car farce and all he had wanted to do was to go to the Leaky Cauldron and ask for their help in contacting the school. He had then gone on to express his belief that Ron was in the whole friendship only for the fame and glory of the adventures they had been in.

"Hermione." Harry had said that day as they sat in an abandoned classroom "You are my only true friend. My best friend." The smile he had received upon these words made the whole ordeal he had just gone through worthwhile.

From that time on, Hermione had become his closest of friends and harry often confided in her when he could get the opportunity when Ron was off goofing off. He also managed to study a lot more with Hermione during the year as Ron's eagerness to be his friend seemed to wane with his popularity within the school. Sure, Ron still maintained Harry as his friend, but he often found other things to do such as playing Chess with Dean or Seamus rather than hanging out with Harry and Hermione. Consequently, Harry's marks went up as he no longer felt he had to keep his grades to the same level as Ron. This was particularly true as Hermione had begun to encourage harry to do much better once she realised what was happening. Despite everyone shunning him during the middle part of the year, Harry found he felt truly happy during this time as he often helped Hermione out with the making of the polyjuice potion as Ron apparently had better things to do than make an exceptionally hard potion.

As they spent an increasing amount of time together, Harry found out a lot more about Hermione and her life before Hogwarts and consequently Hermione also found out about Harry's home life. He had been quite reticent initially to tell her anything, as he had never told anyone before about his life with the dursleys. Ron hadn't seemed to be interested apart from finding it humorous somehow that he had been locked in his room and was being starved at the beginning of this year. Hermione though was different. Harry could tell she was genuinely interested to know more about him and so, slowly, he opened up to her. She did not judge him or think any less of him and most importantly, she did not pity him. She just offered him an understanding shoulder to cry on so to speak. He must admit he did feel a lot better once his whole story had been told, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. She promised she would not repeat anything he had told her and he was comforted by this as he knew that despite anyone knowing, he would not be removed from the dursleys as Dumbledore had made sure it would not be done.

Apparently in the past a teacher had realised the abuse he was suffering at home and had tried to do something about it. The reports she had made to the authorities had disappeared apparently into a black hole as nothing was ever heard about them. People she had spoke to about the case consequently remembered nothing about their prior conversations. Finally one day, she had arrived at school and Harry could tell something was different as she did not look at harry any differently to any other student. She did not give him the smile she saved just for him and she did not talk to him and Harry knew she no longer remembered anything he had told her. Harry also suspected something similar had happened to some of the neighbours around Privet drive as one day people were looking at him in concern, the next, they ignored him completely.

None of it made any sense to him until he found out about magic and he later found out from Hagrid that Dumbledore had placed him with his relatives. He then concluded that something magical was obviously happening to the people who were interested in his treatment at the dursleys and that no matter who he told, they would not remember anything. He also figured that this also meant that the headmaster was also fully aware of what was happening at his relatives and condoned it as he kept harry there. This meant that from an early time of his education at Hogwarts that Harry did not trust the headmaster to look after his best interests.

His happiness though had come to an abrupt end though when Hermione had been found petrified. It was if his heart had been shattered by the discovery of her form holding the mirror. From that time on, Harry spent his time between visiting Hermione and researching in the library. It was on one of his visits with Hermione wen Ron was there for some reason or another that he found the piece of paper in her hand that talked about the basilisk. So after a short period of investigation, here he was in the chamber of secrets with the body of the sixty foot basilisk nearby.

He took the fang which had previously resided in his arm and stabbed it deep into the diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle. As he did this, a great fount of black ink came pouring out of the book like blood. The image of Tom Riddle contorted and screamed in agony as he was forcefully torn apart and exploded in a shower of light. Harry rose to his feet, now fully recovered from the basilisk bite and upon hearing Ginny weasley beginning to moan as she began to return to consciousness, pointed his wand at her and cast

"Stupefy!" She went silent once more as the spell hit her and Harry sighed in relief. In no way did he want to handle a fan-girl at the moment. She was creepy enough during the year as she stared at him, Merlin only knew now what she would be like because he had saved her life. In no way did she know the only reason he was down here was because the basilisk had dared to attack his friend, so he took care of it.

Deciding to explore the chamber further, as it was the chamber of secrets, not the chamber of secret, Harry wandered around the wall, seeing if he could find any more of the little snake symbols, like the one he had seen to open the chamber in moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Finding nothing, he climbed up the statue and entered the hole that had been created by its open mouth. Walking inside he found a long winding tunnel with a larger area in the middle of the hallways which was obviously where the basilisk had rested, if the shed snake skins were any indication. He continued on and at the end of the hallway, he found a little snake carved into the wall. He hissed out

"Open!" With a low grinding noise, a door appeared in the wall and swung open towards him. Harry walked inside and torches sprung to life on the walls, lighting the room before him. It appeared to be an office of sorts, with a desk and chairs as well as a small book shelf and an area which could be used as a potions lab. On the desk however, there was a book with an elaborately carved leather cover. Walking up to the book, harry could see various creatures that were engraved in fine detail and he could tell that someone had taken a great amount of time and care on the cover. The title read 'The Magical Arts.'

Harry sat in the chair before the book in curiosity and opened the book. The text was written in old English which made it somewhat difficult to read, but he got the gist of the introduction pretty quickly. The book was a compendium of magic that was self –updating and was constructed by Salazar Slytherin when he began his travels before building the school with his three friends. It contained the sum knowledge he accumulated from every corner of the world, including ancient knowledge as well as knowledge from his own time. However the book was also full of magic that had been discovered in the last thousand years. Salazar explained that he knew from a seer that his image would be tarnished and that his legacy, his true legacy would be lost to antiquity, so he created this book to be his masterpiece, his sentient legacy to any who was considered to be worthy.

Unbeknownst to harry he had been scanned as he walked through the corridor to the room, not only his magic, but also his character and memories to determine his worth. Only to someone worthy would the book appear. As the book was somewhat sentient, now that it had appeared and once Harry had committed himself to the vows the book required, it would guide him and help him to learn the knowledge within and protect him from himself and from learning beyond his capabilities. Harry read the instructions that Salazar gave as to the vows needed to be given in order for the book's information to be unlocked. Standing and walking over to a space in one corner of the room, Harry drew the runes in a circle as he had been instructed, using the phoenix ash in the jar in the potions lab. He combined this ash with his blood to form a paste of sorts with which he drew the runes. He took meticulous care and after 30 minutes, he was finished. Holding the book in one hand, he stood tall and intoned:

"By my magic and this life I sweat to uphold the tenants put down in this book. I will protect those who are weak and the innocent and will crush those who seek tyranny and dominion and who use cruelty and pain to rule. So Mote it be!"

The runes around Harry shone brightly as the ritual circle activated and Harry felt the magic surge within him. Unbeknownst to him, the magic was searching out and repairing imperfections that had been caused by his upbringing. Bones that previously had been broken and not set properly melted and became whole and stronger than before with a denser structure. Muscles twitched and compacted and also grew denser as their malnourished state was repaired. As Harry's body did not contain the required energy to complete this work, it was done due to the magic surrounding the ritual circle. Lucky for harry he had chosen to do this ritual in a chamber that was situated over the conjunction of three ley lines and the power was more then adequate.

Harry suddenly felt the mother of all headaches as his scar burst open and black blood ran down his face, some of which went into his eyes. It stung as he blinked, but his vision soon also cleared to the point where he took off his glasses as he no longer needed them. His hair grew slightly and for the first time, the genetics from his mother activated and his hair took on a very dark red streaked tinge. His face filled out and he now more resembled a combination of his parents rather than just his father. The scar healed and disappeared once the black blood had been cleaned from it. The runes glowed golden at the end of the ritual and standing in the middle was the same Harry, but also a different Harry. He was slightly taller and his features had changed slightly. The charm that Dumbledore had cast on him as a child had been broken along with the bindings on his power and he now truly for the first time looked the way he should.

Stepping away from the now fading ritual circle, harry quickly looked around and decided there was really nothing else he wanted from the room. He tucked the book away within his robes, not noticing that once the ritual had been completed that the script had changed so it was now easier to read for him, although anyone else trying to read it would not remember anything they had read and would feel compelled to return the book to Harry. Climbing out of the tunnel, Harry picked up the sorting hat and the sword of Gryffindor. Thinking for a moment, Harry realised that the sword would probably be confiscated if he returned with it, so he concentrated on the sword and asked it to be gone, but to return when summoned. As he watched, the sword slowly faded and then fully disappeared from his grip. Smiling, he then flicked his wand and with a muttered

"Mobilicorpus." He levitated Ginny and left the chamber of secrets, making sure that the door closed behind him.

He followed Fawkes who was gliding ahead of him until he reached the cave-in. taking a hold of Ginny in one hand and the tail feather of Fawkes in the other, he then felt a slight heat as he and Ginny were transported to the other side, surprising Ron who was still busy trying to make a hole in the rock pile for Harry.

"Sorry to scare you Ron. Fawkes was kind enough to offer us a lift out of here. If you can grab a hold of Lockhart and your sister, Fawkes can return us to the school." Ron just nodded, either too stunned, or too stupid to give an answer and grabbed a hold of his sister and the idiot teacher. With another flash, they all appeared within Myrtle's bathroom. Myrtle pouted when she saw that Harry was still alive. Harry cheered her up though when he promised he would come to visit in the next few days. Leading the group, Harry levitated Ginny until he reached the infirmary, where he laid her on a bed. Madame Pomfrey, who came out and gasped in shock when she saw Ginny alive, rushed over.

"Madame Pomfrey, Ginny was possessed by a dark object for most of this year." Harry reported to the medi-witch. "When I reached her in the chamber, the object was in the process of draining her life-force. I only just managed to save her life by destroying the object." He indicated the book with a large hole in it that he was carrying. "I thought it best to stun her before she woke and to let you examine her before anything else happened as I don't know what damage the object may have done to her." Madame Pomfrey was shocked at the revelation and smiled at Harry's thoughtfulness.

"Mr. Potter, thankyou for bringing her to me. I'll look after her from here. I believe Miss Weasley's parents and Professor McGonagall are in her office. You best go there and let them know the good news." Harry smiled and nodded, saying

"I'll be sure to do that. Once I have, I'll need to see you to make sure I am ok." Pomfrey nodded and she continued to cast diagnostic charms over Ginny. Harry turned and led Ron and Lockhart to Professor McGonagall's office, once more following Fawkes. Upon receiving the reply to enter after his knock, Harry opened the door, allowing Fawkes to fly in ahead of him and perch on the shoulder of Professor Dumbledore who was also in the office along with Professor McGonagall and the weasley parents. Both the weasleys and Professor McGonagall gasped in shock when they saw the state of Harry as his robes were a mess after his battle and the professor clutched at her chest as if in pain. Turning to the weasley parents, Harry said with a smile

"Your daughter is in the infirmary recovering after her ordeal in the chamber. Ron and I went down into the chamber and rescued her from the monster of Slytherin. Apparently she had been writing in a journal which had possessed her during the year and forced her to open the chamber of secrets." The Weasleys were overjoyed to hear that their daughter was safe and appalled that she had been using a dark object the whole year. Professor McGonagall was also shocked but also wanted more information, which was proved by her next words

"Mr. Potter, I would like to hear the whole story about what happened as I am sure there is a lot more to the tale than you and Mr. Weasley rescuing Miss Weasley." Harry nodded at this and sat down and put the journal of Tom Riddle on the desk and pointed to it and said

"This is the object that Ginny had been using. Apparently it was in with her school supplies when she returned from Diagon Alley, which makes me think that Lucius Malfoy was involved as he was the only other person near her school supplies while we were at Diagon Alley. I believe he provoked the incident that occurred in order to give her the diary." Everyone thought about this in shocked silence and seemed to accept the assertions that Harry had made.

"Apparently once she had discovered the diary she assumed that one of her parents had bought the diary for her. She began to write into it and was surprised when it started writing back. The personality within the diary introduced himself as Tom Riddle. I later found out that this was the original name of Voldemort." At this declaration, everyone except Dumbledore gasped and Harry gathered that he had already known this.

"Throughout the year he got a firmer and firmer hold over her and slowly began to take over her mind. His first complete takeover was a week before Halloween when he killed all of the roosters that Hagrid had. On Halloween he once more took over Ginny to let out the monster of Slytherin which petrified Mrs. Norris. The monster is of course a basilisk." Everyone except Dumbledore gasped again and Harry instantly knew that Dumbledore had known all year. Harry began to suspect that once again this was a test for Harry to test him as a weapon. Little did Dumbledore know that if the basilisk had left Hermione alone, Harry would not have bothered in hunting down the monster. Of course a good thing did come out of him doing this as he had found the book he now possessed, but he didn't know that at the time.

"Riddle continued taking over Ginny throughout the year and petrifying the different victims. She began to suspect a month ago what was actually happening and attempted to get rid of the journal. The problem was though that Riddle had enough of a hold that he forced her to retrieve it from me, as I had found the journal in the bathroom she had discarded it in. Before she had retrieved it, the journal had tried to lead me to believe that Hagrid was the culprit as he had been framed fifty years ago for the crime of murdering Moaning Myrtle. However, the journal did not realise that as a friend of Hagrid I knew he was incapable of hurting another person, especially with a basilisk. The fact that he was expelled for owning a spider when Myrtle's body showed no signs of spider bite is a travesty which I hope can be rectified." Saying this, harry turned to Dumbledore and McGonagall, who both nodded and he was sure at least that Dumbledore would take care of this.

"In the end it was Hermione who gave us the answer as to the monster's identity and how it was travelling around the castle. On the morning of the quidditch match when she was petrified, she had gone to the library as she had realised she knew what type of animal it was. I can only assume she realised the voices I had been hearing all year was the basilisk moving through the walls as my parceltongue abilities had been exposed a couple of months ago. She therefore went to the library to check out what type of snake could petrify and came up with this." Harry then took out the sheet Hermione had torn and placed it on the table so everyone could read it.

"My word!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed after reading the information and the word 'pipes' that Hermione had written at the bottom. Dumbledore nodded in agreement. The Weasleys looked impressed at Hermione's deduction, which Harry could only agree with.

"Unfortunately, she along with Penelope Clearwater were petrified on their way from the library. I guess she explained to Penelope what she had discovered, hence why they were using the hand-mirror to check around corners. I guess that saved their life. The piece of paper though remained hidden inside Hermione's hand until last night when I realised she was holding something in her hand and managed to tease it from her petrified fist. Once I realised what she was saying with the word pipes, I then worked out that most of the petrification's occurred around the second floor girl's bathroom and I remembered that last time a girl was killed. I then asked Ron what if the girl never left. What if she remained as a ghost because of the way she died." Ron nodded that Harry had indeed said this.

"We then went and talked to Myrtle and she told us how she died; that she saw a pair of yellow eyes looking at her when she opened the toilet cubicle door. An examination of the sinks revealed a tap which had never worked but had an engraving of a snake on it. We then went and retrieved Professor Lockhart as he was the supposed expert. However, we found him finishing packing his possessions and trying to flee the school. With a little encouragement, he admitted he made up the fact that he did all of the accomplishments he claimed, instead stealing the fame from others and obliviating the real heroes. Deciding he would still make a good shield, we forced him at wand point into the entrance to the chamber in Myrtle's bathroom. However wen we all landed at the bottom of the pipe, he seized Ron's wand and attempted to obliviate us. Since Ron's wand was broken, it backfired and wiped his mind and caused a cave-in, separating Ron and I. I therefore went on alone and entered the chamber." The weasley parents at this moment looked appalled at the behaviour of Lockhart and a little angry. McGonagall looked impressed at Harry's deductive leaps and his bravery in deciding to go on alone.

"When I entered the chamber I found a large statue at the end of a long row of pillars carved in snakes. It was Salazar Slytherin and between his feet lay Ginny. She was unconscious but still alive. While I was checking her, Tom Riddle in a rapidly corporialising form introduced himself and explained everything that had happened this year. He then let me know how he did what he had done and called out the basilisk. At this time Fawkes appeared with the sorting hat, which I took and sought to hide from the basilisk, as I had no idea how to combat such a large monster. Fawkes, however, blinded the basilisk by scratching out its eyes and in desperation I put on the sorting hat. The sword of Gryffindor then nearly gave me a concussion as it fell out of the hat. I then fought the basilisk and managed to impale it through the mouth when it tried to bite me. This had the unfortunate consequence that I was actually bitten." Saying this, Harry rolled up his sleeve of his robe, showing the circular scar in his arm.

"But how did you survive such a bite Mr. Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked incredulously.

"Fawkes, once more. He landed next to me and cried into the wound, healing it. I then took the fang which had broken off in my arm and stabbed the diary with it as Fawkes had dropped it next to me. This caused Riddle to disappear. Ginny then woke up and I stunned her as I didn't know what damage the item had done to her. I then levitated her out of the chamber, taking the hat with me. The sword disappeared once I had used it. Fawkes then transported me and Ginny past the cave-in and then all of us into the bathroom once more. I took Ginny to the hospital wing straight away and then we came to see you." Harry completed.

There was a stunned silence for several minutes as everyone in the room absorbed the tale. Finally, Professor Dumbledore quietly said

"I think Mr. and Mrs.

Weasley should go to the hospital wing ad see how their daughter is doing." Looking down, he also noticed Ron's hands which were scraped and raw looking from moving the rocks in the chamber tunnel. Harry also looked down and noticed this and it made him feel a little bad for his attitude towards Ron. He decided that he would give him another chance as a friend before ditching him.

"I think Mr. Weasley should also have his hands looked at." The weasleys all rose as one and left the office and headed towards the hospital wing. Professor Dumbledore then turned to Professor McGonagall and said

"Could I impose on you Minerva to go down to the kitchens and notify the elves to prepare a feast for when the victims of the petrification are cured tomorrow morning? I believe their cure and the defeat of the monster justifies a feast." Professor McGonagall nodded at this and rising to her feet, said

"Very well. I will let you deal with Potter then shall I?" With those words she left her own office.

The headmaster then turned to Harry and said with a smile

"I remember telling you at the start of the year that any further breaches in the rules would result in your expulsion Mr. Potter. This just goes to show that one must always eat ones words, especially in this case. I personally want to thank you Mr. Potter. Not just for saving the school, but also for showing me real loyalty. Only that would have summoned Fawkes to you." Harry nodded in acceptance of this in what he hoped was a humble manner. In no way did he at any point show the headmaster loyalty in the chamber. He was far too concerned with dealing with riddle and his monster to think about the headmaster. The things he said about Dumbledore were said out of necessity, not loyalty and just because everyone said Dumbledore was the one who Voldemort feared, didn't mean he had any loyalty towards the man.

Dumbledore then continued

"For your efforts, you will be given an award for special services to the school along with Mr. Weasley. You will also be both given 200 points. Now I believe you too should go off to the infirmary to be looked over." Harry thanked the headmaster and left the office and headed towards the hospital wing in a leisurely manner. He knew that Madame Pomfrey would be taking her time with Ginny and Ron and if he hadn't died yet, harry suspected he could take a little longer to head to the hospital wing.

As he was heading up the hallways, who should he come across but the instigator himself, Lucius Malfoy, striding towards the deputy headmaster's office.

"Mr. Malfoy." Harry greeted smoothly. Lucius Malfoy hesitated a moment and then nodded with a sneer

"Mr. Potter."

Harry, looking at Malfoy with a shark's grin on his face, said

"You may be interested to know I just killed the reincarnation of your master and his pet basilisk. I also retrieved the item which had possessed Arthur Weasley's daughter. Of course we both know that the item in question was planted by you in her used transfiguration book the day in Diagon Alley when you instigated a fight between yourself and Arthur Weasley." Saying this, Harry held up the diary in question and noticed how Lucius Malfoy's eyes narrowed and his skin paled even more than usual.

"However, my recollection may be too hazy for me to present my memory of the situation to Madame Bones at the DMLE, Particularly if you hand your glove to that elf to your side there. Why if that were to happen, I would consider the matter closed." Lucius Malfoy thought about it for a moment and realised that if Potter did hand his memory to the director and it was found through questioning the weasley girl that the diary was in her transfiguration book, which he did not doubt, then he would be in trouble and the minister would not be able to protect him. Shrugging mentally at the small price, he took off his glove and handed it to Dobby and said

"Here you worthless elf. You are no longer in my employ." Upon saying this, he then walked on past Harry and to his original destination, leaving the house elf and harry alone in the hallway.

"The great Harry Potter has freed Dobby!" The house elf squeaked in joy.

"What can Dobby do for the great Harry Potter?" Harry smiled as he had been thinking about Dobby ever since he had killed the basilisk. He had made a decision long before Lucius Malfoy had come and solved the only problem he had foreseen, that being freeing Dobby. He now turned to the house elf and said

"Well Dobby, you see I find myself in need of a companion. I have been in two great adventures now, but each time i have found myself alone at the end, having to face the great foe by myself. Now I don't want a servant; I want a companion, a friend. Do you think you would be interested in taking the job?" As soon as he finished, Harry began to worry that Dobby's eyes would fall out of his head, his eyes were so wide. He was shaking in what Harry could only assume was utter excitement.

"You want Dobby to bond as a friend instead of a servant?" Harry nodded quietly and waited for Dobby's answer.

"Yes, Dobby wants the job!" Dobby almost screamed in his apparent joy. Harry couldn't help but smile at the little elf.

"Okay Dobby, now how do we do this? I don't know how to bond with you as a servant or a friend, so you will have to be my guide in this." Dobby nodded and stepping up to Harry, took his hand in his own.

"It is simple Harry Potter sir. Just answer the question Dobby asks you during ritual." Upon these words, Dobby straightened up in a formal stance and looked into Harry's eyes and asked

"Do you Harry Potter accept Dobby in the bonds of friendship? Will his enemies be your enemies and his friends your friends?" Harry smiled and answered

"I do so swear." Dobby nodded and smiled and intoned

"Dobby also swears that Harry Potter's enemies will be his enemies and his friends will be my friends. So Mote it be!" Harry, knowing he had to repeat the last part, also intoned

"So mote it be!" There was a giant white flash of light and a rush of magic in the air as the bond formed. While there was not much of a change in dobby's appearance at the moment, he already did look a little better than he had before. Harry, making a quick decision as a very Slytherin thought came to him, said

"Okay Dobby. I have one major set of tasks for you, then I want you to rest over the next few days as the bond settles, alright?" Dobby nodded eagerly and Harry quickly outlined his requests to dobby. The smile on Dobby's face got wider and wider as he heard what Harry wanted him to do and with an almost mocking bow and salute of respect Dobby left the hallway with a crack. Harry, almost grinning as widely as dobby continued on his way to the infirmary, almost content with the knowledge that all would be right in the world shortly.

Harry was not surprised when he entered the infirmary to be ushered straight over to a bed and ordered to change into a pair of hospital pyjamas, which he did so without a protest. Once he was lying in his bed and waiting on the medi-witch to be done with her other patients, harry heard a pop as parchment, a quill and ink appeared on the desk next to him. Rolling one of the mobile tables to himself, he laid the parchment down and dipping his quill into the ink, began to write"

Dear Minister Fudge,

Good afternoon sir, my name is Harry Potter. We have not yet had the pleasure of meeting in person, but I have heard great things from Professor Dumbledore about you and your willingness to do the right thing for the wizarding world.

I am not sure if Professor Dumbledore has notified you, but earlier this evening, I along with my friend Ronald Weasley, discovered the entrance to the chamber of secrets and went down into the chamber accompanied by our Professor for defence against the dark arts, Gilderoy Lockhart. We managed to rescue Ron's sister Ginevra weasley who had been kidnapped earlier and killed the monster of Slytherin, a giant basilisk. During the battle a spell fired at the basilisk rebounded and hit the Professor and somehow acted as an obliviate charm and has wiped his memory. I hope the good people at St. Mungos will be able to heal him as the deeds in his books are indeed great.

It was discovered during the battle that a dark object had bewitched a student at Hogwarts and forced them to release the monster onto the school and that the object somehow appeared in the possessions of the student while they were in Diagon Alley. Unfortunately we may never know who planted the object, but at least we can be grateful that it has now been destroyed.

Now the main reason for my letter is in regards to Rubius Hagrid. Rubius is a friend that I made when I was first reintroduced into the wizarding world. He protected me while I went shopping for my school supplies in first year as well as during a detention during the year when the then Professor Quirrel tried to track me while disguised. During an accident this year while floo travelling, where I unfortunately ended up in Nocturne Alley, Rubius was able to locate me and return me safely to Diagon Alley. I can only imagine the public uproar if the boy-who-lived was either kidnapped or hurt or worse while in Nocturne Alley.

So as you can see, Rubius has been a great friend and ally to me during my first two years back in the wizarding world. As has been proven by my earlier explanation, Rubius was not responsible for the chamber of secrets being opened this time and it was also revealed that his earlier expulsion from Hogwarts and denial of wand rights was also unjust as the maker of the dark object, one Tom Marvolo Riddle, was actually responsible for the earlier incident and framed Hagrid in order to protect himself from expulsion. If you could see your way into organising Rubius' release from Azkaban prison and see about his rights to use magic, I would be most appreciative.

Yours Truly,

Harry Potter.

After finishing writing, he rolled up the parchment and sealed it with his wand. As he laid down the parchment on the table, it as well as the ink and quill disappeared with another pop and Harry laid back with a satisfied smile on his face. It was then that Madame Pomfrey came over to him and said with a little exasperation

"Alright Mr. Potter, tell me what happened."

Harry then went into his explanation, giving her the highlights of what happened to him so she could check his condition. She first checked his arm which had been re-grown earlier that year, but it was structurally sound. She then ran a full medical diagnostic of his body. While she waited for the diagnostic to finish and write its results on some parchment nearby, she said to him

"Mr. Potter if you keep turning up in my infirmary like this every year, I am going to have to reserve this bed for you on a permanent basis!" Harry just grinned his lop-sided grin and said

"Since we know each other so well, why don't you call me Harry?" Madame Pomfrey couldn't help but smile, as his grin reminded her so much of his father, who had also been a regular visitor to her infirmary, although his were more self-inflicted, while harry just seemed to fall into trouble's clutches with no effort on his part.

"Very well. You can also call me Poppy while we are in private. Any other time and you must refer to me as Madame Pomfrey, understand?" Harry nodded, smiling and answered

"Of course Poppy. Now what's the damage?" He then indicated the softly glowing parchment, indicating the completion of the diagnostic. Poppy picked up the parchment and read through it thoroughly. When done she placed it down and said

"Well there seems to be no real damage from your experience apart from the scar. As it is infused with both Venom and phoenix tears, it will be impossible to fully heal. Apart from that a side-effect of these substances in your body seems to have been your body using it to heal previous injuries which did not heal fully or properly. Do you feel any different?"

Harry nodded in answer, saying

"I have noticed that the aches I usually have are absent. So this is why?" Poppy nodded and said

"You may also notice over the next week that your eyesight will improve as well as the healing continues. I just suggest that you ingest a lot of food while this occurs to give your body the materials to work with. I'll organise a meal for you shortly and keep you in here for the next few days to make sure you are alright. I'll allow you to go down to the feast tomorrow with your friends, but you are to come straight back here afterwards, understand?" Harry nodded in agreement and said

"Thank you poppy, for all your help." She smiled fondly and walked off to check on her other patients. Harry sighed and laid back, fully relaxing for the first time since the petrification of Hermione occurred. Reaching over to the side-table, he took down the book he had found in the chamber and opened it up to begin reading. The notice-me-not on the book would help greatly him to read the book whenever he wanted.

He ate the food absently as he continued to read the introduction, which also contained a brief history of Salazar Slytherin. Apparently he was not against Muggleborns or new-bloods as Harry liked to call them, but was against those who would use them to capture wizards and witches for the witch-trials. He just wanted to remove all magical children from the non-magical world once it was recognised that they had magic so then not only were they protected, but the magical world was as well.

Reading Salazar's life was fascinating. He was what was known as a battle mage, meaning he was vastly experienced in magical arts to do with battle and protection of those who cannot fight for themselves. While a teacher in Hogwarts, he had gone off many times to protect Britain from the Viking invasions and the tales he told of decimating whole armies with his spells and that this was why the invasions stopped was a truly humbling thought. In the end apparently his need to protect those around him proved too much and against his friend's protests, he left the school to go to war, not because of some argument about who was to learn at Hogwarts as some of the books of history claimed.

Salazar then went on to explain that this book would teach all someone needed to know about becoming a battle mage, while protecting the user by not allowing them knowledge without practical experience and the maturity to not use the knowledge in a damaging way. Harry was excited to read this as when he had first heard of the wizarding world he had wanted to be a protector of people and a powerful warrior so no one would ever be treated the way he was again. He then made a further vow, but this one to himself, that he would do his best with this opportunity given to him and from now on he would do his best in all things and damn the consequences. If Ron got jealous, then their friendship would be over as he no longer had a need to pander to Ron's insecurities.

Having finished his meal and growing tired from his reading, Harry put a piece of parchment into the book ad put it under his pillow. He then got comfortable and laying his glasses on the table, which incidentally were clear glass, Madame Pomfrey's scans apparently did not measure his vision, and He turned over and went to sleep with a smile on his face for the first time in weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, I appreciate them. Anyone who can provide information on Azarath or who has played warcraft and is willing to give information please let me know. As I said I am blind so can't play the game, so have to go from information I pick up off of the web.

Harry sat up in his bed the following morning and watched as Professor Snape entered with a large collection of vials in a box and went into the office of Madame Pomfrey. Harry was excited to have his best friend back. He hadn't seen Ron since the previous evening when he had been treated for his scraped hands. Harry could only assume he was out spouting off about the adventure he had been in with Harry. Harry could only assume if this was true that Ron was also inflating his amount of participation in the adventure as really all he had done was to follow Harry down into the chamber and get stuck behind a rock fall which he had been attempting to remove when Harry had been transported through by Fawkes after he had defeated the basilisk and Voldemort. Shrugging mentally, Harry thought Ron was welcome to any fame he gained from this as Harry really didn't particularly care about it. He had gone in there for one reason; to make the person who had done this and the monster pay for ever coming near his best friend. This he had done and therefore he was satisfied. The bonus now was the book he still had hidden under his pillow. Although he knew from reading in the book that the enchantments would make sure the book was returned to him, he did not want to take the chance that someone would try to confiscate it, such as Snape, the miserable git.

At this point in is thoughts, Madame Pomfrey and Professor Snape exited her office and began attending to the victims of the petrification. They began with the first victim, Mrs Norris. The process seemed to be that they first applied some of the potion to the victims lips so they became un petrified so then they could open their lips to pour the rest of the mixture into their mouth. This then un-petrified the mouth and spread down to the throat, enabling them to swallow, which was completed through a spell cast on the patient. From that point the potion worked over a period of about ten minutes and spread out from the cured areas, causing the body to relax from the position it had been in at the time of the petrification. The victim remained unconscious during this time until all function had been restored, upon which they then regained consciousness. Mr Filch was there for the resuscitation of his familiar and Harry could not help but feel sorry for the man as he knew how he would have felt if Hedwig was a victim of such an attack and had been out of action for nearly an entire year. He watched as the cantankerous old man picked up his cat and hugged her tightly to his chest, weeping in relief the whole time and thanking the medi-witch and Professor profusely. Poppy smiled at her fellow staff member and told him he was welcome, while Snape just nodded silently at the thanks.

They then proceeded then around the room, administering the potion in a similar fashion to that of Mrs Norris. Slowly each person was returned to a living, breathing form upon which they then gained consciousness and were told what had happened and how long they had been in the hospital wing for. Hermione and Penelope were the last patients to be restored and Harry watched with excitement as his friend went through the process. Her body first relaxed into a prone position on the bed and the colour slowly returned to her skin. Her eyes then closed and she began breathing. Her eyes then snapped open and she bolted upright. Harry, who had come over to see his friend restored, laid a hand on her shoulder and said

"Easy Hermione. It's okay. You are safe now." Hermione's eyes snapped to Harry and she launched herself into his arms and began to cry. Harry held her to him and rubbed her back while murmuring in her ear that she was okay. She clung to him fiercely as she sobbed out the fright she had felt when she realised what the creature actually was and the terror at the last second as she saw the giant snake through the mirror just down the hallway. Harry sat on the bed next to her and held her tightly to him, comforting her the whole time until she calmed down somewhat. Finally she lifted her head from his chest where she had buried it and asked

"How long have I been in the hospital wing Harry?" Harry shrugged and answered

"About three weeks." Hermione's eyes then widened as she realised something and she looked at her hands and said quickly to harry

"Harry we have to let the teachers know. There is a basilisk in the castle!" Harry smiled and hugged her again, saying

"Don't worry Hermione. I took care of it." She stopped in the middle of her panic and just looked at him for a moment and asked

"What do you mean you took care of it?" Harry, not really knowing enough about women to identify the warning signs just continued to talk

"Well I found that page you tore out of the book. However as soon as I found it another message had been written on the wall outside of the second floor bathroom. Apparently Ginny Weasley had been kidnapped and taken into the chamber. I then concluded that most of the attacks had occurred quite close to the bathroom and thought that perhaps the person who had been killed the first time the chamber had been open had never left. So Ron and I went to talk to moaning Myrtle. It turned out she was killed by the basilisk when she had been crying in the toilet and had seen it as it came out of the entrance. After looking at the set of taps in front of her toilet cubicle, I found a tap that had an engraving of a snake on it. Ron and I then went and got Professor Lockhart to help us with the chamber. He was more interested in leaving and saving his own hide though, so we err, encouraged him to come with us at wand point. We forced him to go down the pipe that uncovered when I opened the chamber. When Ron and I landed, Ron let Lockhart get hold of his wand. Lockhart then attempted to obliviate us, which is apparently what he had done to all the people who had actually done the things he claimed in his books. Problem for him though was that he was using a broken wand, which backfired and obliviated himself." Hermione was wide-eyed at this point and seemed not to be able to believe her ears, so Harry continued

"When he obliviated himself, Lockhart caused a cave-in where I got separated from Ron and Lockhart. I saw really no other choice but to go on. I entered through another parceltongue controlled door and found Ginny lying at the foot of a giant statue of Salazar Slytherin unconscious. While I was trying to revive her, Tom Riddle came up behind me and told me she wouldn't wake up." Hermione gasped at this as she knew who Tom Riddle was.

"Apparently Ginny had been writing in his diary since the shopping trip in Diagon Alley. This caused the diary to start absorbing her life force and enabled him to eventually take over her body, which led initially to the roosters being killed and then the chamber of secrets being opened. While he was telling me all of this I noticed that his form wasn't completely corporeal and that when the process was complete, Ginny would die. He then told me that he was actually the younger version of lord Voldemort and that his name was an anagram. I didn't really care at this point and basically provoked him to releasing the basilisk. While doing this I apparently summoned the headmaster's phoenix, who brought the sorting hat along with him. I grabbed the hat and ran for it as I had no idea how to fight the basilisk. Fawkes helped out though by clawing out the snake's eyes. I then had a brain-wave and put on the sorting hat and the sword of Gryffindor fell out, almost breaking my skull in the process." Hermione looked at Harry sharply and asked

"Please don't tell me you fought a thousand year old basilisk with a bloody sword?" Harry nodded and Hermione just shook her head in disbelief. Harry continued on with the story

"I managed to run the sword through the top of the basilisk's mouth when it tried to bite me, killing it. However it bit me." He then showed Hermione his arm with the scar. She gently traced the scar and asked

"How did you survive?" Harry smiled and said

"The phoenix again. He cried tears into the wound once I removed the broken off fang. It healed right up. Luckily he also had dropped the diary next to me and I stabbed it with the fang, killing Voldemort and destroying the diary." Hermione pondered all of the information and shook her head, smiling slightly and said

"Only you Harry." Harry tried to look injured, but was too happy that his friend was back to hold back his smile for long. She smiled back and took his hand in hers.

"So what else happened?" She asked him, knowing there must be more.

"Well apparently while Ron and I were gone, Professor Dumbledore had been reinstated and Ron and I found him in Professor McGonagall's office comforting the Weasley parents. We had already dropped Ginny off at the hospital wing as I didn't know the long-term effects of a possession for so long so I kept her unconscious and brought her straight o Madame Pomfrey. I then explained to them what happened and got an award for services to the school and 200 points along with Ron. I then found Lucius Malfoy on my way to the hospital wing and managed to convince him to release Dobby the house elf. I then bonded Dobby as my friend and sent him off to do some things for me, including sending a letter to the Minister of Magic to have Hagrid released, as apparently Dumbledore forgot about him." Harry said this with some heat, as Dumbledore often seemed to forget the individuals when it came to this sort of thing. Hermione just squeezed his hand as she agreed with him.

Harry then looked around and made sure no one else was around, which they were not as everyone else had left and Madame Pomfrey had returned to her office. He then turned to Hermione and said

"Before I left the chamber I actually found the office of Salazar Slytherin." Hermione's eyebrows rose at this as she could tell he had not told anyone else about this.

"I actually found quite an interesting book which I want to share with you." He continued. Hermione's eyes lit up at the knowledge of such an old book and Harry led her over to his bed and sat her down next to him. Reaching under the pillow he pulled out the book and holding Hermione's hand on the book, he intoned

"I Harry Potter, grant access to this book for Hermione Jane Granger, so mote it be." Hermione gasped as she felt a small prick as a drop of blood was drawn from her hand and there was a muted flash. Knowing this was the book releasing to her, Harry showed Hermione the front cover of the book and opened it to the first page and began to explain what he had discovered so far. Hermione was excited to find out the book was an entire compendium of magic and all it contained. She agreed with Harry that it was an opportunity they should take advantage of.

"What I propose we do is learn as much of the magic while we are at school and then learn all we can theoretically and what doesn't require wand magic during the holidays, that way we use out time most effectively." Harry explained to Hermione. Hermione squealed in excitement and hugged Harry again, saying

"This will be great Harry. We can use the knight bus to meet up and we can learn together all summer. This will be great!" Harry looked at her a little puzzled and asked

"The knight bus?" Hermione looked at him a little weirdly for a moment and then remembered something

"Sorry Harry. I keep forgetting you didn't receive any of the muggleborn…" Harry then interrupted her, saying

"New blood." Hermione looked at him questioningly and he explained

"Muggleborn is like saying nigger to a black person. If you must refer to them call them new blood." Hermione thought about this and then nodded and continued

"I forgot that you didn't receive any of the new blood guides to the wizarding world. In one of the booklets it explains about the knight bus. You hold out your wand and this bus appears and will take you anywhere within the British Isles. Apparently it is a popular transport device for underage wizards and witches." Harry smiled and nodded in excitement, seeing that his summer holidays were going to be a lot more pleasant this year.

The two of them sat there side by side in Harry's bed reading through the introduction of the book. Hermione agreed she would also take the vow once they were both out of the hospital wing, meaning Harry had been released, especially when Harry explained the benefits he had received from his own vow. They both found it fascinating to read about Salazar's life and his many travels throughout the world. Soon enough lunch came and Madame Pomfrey, after doing a scan of Hermione released her to go to lunch, while Harry was forced to stay and eat an enormous lunch, which he did not really mind. After the year he had, he really needed the rest mentally, if not physically. After he finished his meal, Harry lay back against the head-board of his bed and thought about his next year. He had chosen to do all subjects the same as Hermione, even though professor McGonagall had expressed her concern at him taking on such a load. This was when he had carefully explained the reason for his mediocre performance during his classes for the last two years. It had started off as a defence mechanism while he was a non-magical school. This was because if he came home with a report card better than Dudley, he would be accused of cheating or using his freakishness to beat their son, when in reality a bear with a head cold could show up their son. Therefore to avoid the unpleasantness and an extended stay in his cupboard, he had contrived to do just a little worse than his cousin. Of course he did the work correctly, but then fudged the answers just enough to get worse marks. This had just then continued on into Hogwarts without him realising and had just replaced Dudley with Ron. Professor McGonagall had accepted his choices for his electives with the stipulation that from now on he do his best. He had apologised and promised that this would now be the case.

Hermione arrived shortly after lunch and once more they took up their positions in the bed and read through what essentially was a history of the times of the founders combined with an autobiography of Salazar Slytherin. They did not realise the passage of time until Madame Pomfrey reminded them of the feast which was to take place in 15 minutes time. Harry quickly dressed in his robes and hand in hand, he and Hermione headed down to the feast. When they entered the great hall, everyone went quiet when they saw Harry for the first time in a few days and quickly the buzzing began throughout the room and everyone discussed the latest rumours surrounding him and no doubt the story that Ron had been telling anyone who would listen about their adventure down in the chamber. He and Hermione went and sat down next to Neville who was sitting near the twins and the three chasers Alicia, Katie and Angelina. They all greeted Harry and Hermione warmly and the three chasers told Hermione they were glad she was back up and around as Harry had been down in the dumps ever since she had been petrified, causing Harry to lower his head and blush and Hermione to smile at him fondly. Unlike everyone else in the hall though, his friends surrounding him did not question him about the events that had taken place but instead let him enjoy the feast with his best friend. They knew there was plenty of time to find out the real story, as not one of them believed Ron's tale, or at least what he claimed to have done in his recitation. There were still a couple of weeks left of school so there was plenty of time to pick the truth from Harry.

At the end of the feast, Professor Dumbledore got to his feet and gave a speech, but Harry zoned his voice out as he really didn't want to hear the headmasters inane waffling. He also knew that Hermione would tell him any pertinent facts if there were any. After the speech was done they were dismissed and Hermione accompanied harry back to the infirmary upon which she wished him a good night and after giving him another hug, returned back to Gryffindor tower. Madame Pomfrey, who had arrived during his wishing Hermione a good night, waited until he had changed back into pyjamas and then ran her diagnostic spells on him again to check his progress. He mentioned that his eyes had seemed to have healed as he no longer wore his glasses and she nodded, making a note on his file. She concluded the spells and examined the results for a moment. Turning to him, she said with a smile

"Everything appears to be fine Harry. Your system has stabilised and you are eating more than an adequate diet to compensate for the healing. I will release you tomorrow providing you continue to eat large meals, alright?" Harry nodded happily at this and promised to do as the healer requested. He went to sleep that night, happy his friend was back and fine and that his own condition was good enough that he would be released on the morning.

The following morning found Harry sitting on the edge of his bed while Madame Pomfrey ran through her final diagnostics. As she was finishing up, Hermione came through the infirmary doors and smiled in greeting to Harry, who returned the smile.

"Well Mr Potter, everything seems fine. Keep up with the increased calories and everything should be fine." Madame Pomfrey admonished Harry. He nodded in acceptance and with her dismissal; he rose from the bed and met Hermione at the entrance to the hospital wing. Taking each other's hand, they turned and went downstairs to the great hall for breakfast. Harry had the book hidden in an inside pocket of his robes, which he told Hermione as they ventured downstairs. They made it to the great hall without being disturbed by anyone as it was still quite early. Harry and Hermione selected places next to each other on the Gryffindor table and once they sat down, they proceeded to load their plates up. Hermione noticed that while the amount of food that harry was eating was substantially more, she also noticed that it was substantially healthier then the breakfast foods most people tended to eat. She commented on this and harry explained

"Well when Madame Pomfrey said I needed to eat more, she had the house elves get me a meal then and there. I noticed that while the foods that I had on the plate were foods that were often available at the great hall, they were usually the more healthy options. I therefore took the selection as an example of the foods that Madame Pomfrey wanted me to eat and it seems that is so as every meal I have had in the infirmary since then had the same healthy element to it. That is why I chose the porridge along with fruit and toast along with scrambled eggs." Hermione listened and admitted to herself that she was impressed by his deductive reasoning. Most boys Harry's age are only concerned with there being food in front of them and lots of it, not whether the food is healthy or not. She knew that magic tended to make people a lot healthier who had it and therefore they tended not to suffer many of the medical conditions that non-magicals did; however not having your magic work so hard on your health would surely mean you have more available to then cast. Hermione would have to look into this at some point.

They continued on with their conversation throughout their breakfast, ignoring the majority of the school as they all filtered into the hall to eat their own breakfast. Both Harry and Hermione had come to the conclusion that most of them were sheep and not worth bothering about, so therefore were not important in the scheme of things. Finishing their breakfast, they rose and exited the hall, just as Ron entered, intent on his own breakfast. In fact he was so intent; he ignored Harry and Hermione completely, something for which they were both grateful. Harry, taking Hermione's hand once more, led her through the hallways and up to the second floor bathroom. They both entered and noticed that Myrtle wasn't there and so walked to the sink in front of her cubicle. Harry pointed out the snake engraving and then hissed out

"Open!"

With a grinding noise the sink slowly lowered out of sight, exposing the opening of the pipe. Hermione, looking at the entrance for a moment, said

"You know, I just do not see Salazar Slytherin sliding down a pipe in order to get to his secret chamber." Harry looked at Hermione in surprise and realisation and said

"So you think there is another command perhaps or another entrance?" Thinking for a moment, Hermione said

"It is more likely that there is another command, maybe something for stairs rather than there being another entrance. Perhaps try asking for stairs?" Harry nodded at this and looking at the entrance and imagining the face of the basilisk, hissed

"Stairs!"

There was a clicking noise as the bricks surrounding the entrance moved kind of like the bricks at the entrance to diagon alley, folding out to form stairs, with each layer repeating this action right down the pipe. Holding hands once more, Harry and Hermione went down the stairs, lighting their wands as they went. Halfway down, harry turned back around and hissed out

"Close!" and with another grinding noise the sink rose back up, blocking the entrance. They then continued down until he reached the bottom of the stairs.

They soon reached the cave-in and after consulting with Hermione, they both agreed which spell they should cast and decided if they did it together that it should provide enough power. They both raised their wands at the same time and waving them in the prescribed motion, cast their spell. The rocks and debris flower together and formed a low-handing archway through the rock fall that also supported the remaining rocks and the ceiling above it, ensuring that there would be no further collapses. Grinning at each other due to their success, they then walked through the archway and along the hallway and up to the large circular door. Harry hissed

"Open!"

The snakes moved in a circular motion around the door and the door opened, allowing them entrance into the chamber. Harry noticed that the room was dark and thinking about what Hermione had said earlier, He hissed

"Lights!"

With a whooshing noise the torches around the chamber lit up, showing the chamber and more important, showed the corpse of the basilisk. Hermione shrieked when she saw the size of the creature and hugged Harry desperately, to ensure that he was indeed, alright. Harry returned the hug as he had a slight flashback to the terror he had felt while fighting the monster.

After calming down, they skirted around the large reptile and climbed through the hole in the statue's head and moved through to the office. Once inside, Harry showed her the phoenix ash he had used and Hermione repeated the same ritual circle and the runes she needed to use, mixing the ash with her own blood to form the paste needed to draw with. She too was done in roughly half an hour, upon which she took the book that Harry had been holding and recited the same pledge that Harry had done a few days before. Harry noticed as soon as the pledge was finished that the circle and the runes flowed a bright white and he almost saw the physical wave of magic that went through Hermione. The first thing he noticed was that her hair, rather than being bushy ad actually smoothed out and was now more wavy with some ringlets. Hermione also appeared to grow only slightly taller, but Harry thought this was probably because she had always had quite good nutrition growing up with loving parents, so there wasn't much that the ritual needed to correct, unlike with his own body. The ritual then finished as the circle glowed golden. It was only once this had happened and Hermione had turned to him with a smile that he realised what else had changed.

"Hermione, your teeth!" Harry said in surprise. Hermione's hand flew to her mouth and she first felt her front teeth in disbelief and the in joy. Her front teeth had been corrected. They were now in proportion to the rest of her teeth and her mouth. She beamed a happy grin at Harry, who returned it.

Hermione flung her arms around Harry's neck and exuberantly kissed him, she was so happy. Harry was shocked at this action by his best friend, although after a moment's though, he decided he didn't mind it at all. In fact it felt quite pleasant. Hermione had frozen once she had realised what she had done and was terrified of Harry's reaction. When he cupped the side of her face and tilted it slightly and continued the kiss, Hermione relaxed and melted into the kiss while melting inside. After roughly half a minute, they broke apart and moved their heads back slightly so they could look into each other's eyes.

"So is this your way of asking me out?" Harry asked Hermione with a cheeky grin on his face. Hermione blushed and hit his arm playfully and said

"You better be my boyfriend Mr Potter. I don't go around kissing boys who aren't my boyfriend!" Harry just chuckled and nodded in agreement, which caused Hermione to give him another brilliant smile in response. They kissed once more, this time a little more confidently and with a little more exploration of their feelings. When they parted, they took each other's hand and made their way out of the chamber, making sure to close the door to the chamber behind them once more. Hermione mentioned that she thought that since Harry had killed the basilisk that it was his by right of conquest. Harry suggested they take a trip to the library to look up the relevant information and perhaps consult the book, which Hermione happily agreed to. Harry then opened the entrance and to their relief, Myrtle was still not around, so they quickly exited and Harry shut the chamber once more. Hermione exited the bathroom first to make sure no one would see Harry exiting a girl's bathroom and then once she signalled that it was safe, he came out and they both made their way to the library for a morning of studying and quiet conversation.

After a few hours of diligent perusal of the rules according to the ministry of magic as well as a perusal of Hogwarts a history as well as the Hogwarts Charter, the two teens concluded that there did not seem to be any law regarding the killing of a dangerous animal on Hogwarts grounds, so that meant that the existing law regarding the conquest of dangerous creatures applied. Harry determined that it was probably best to deal with the goblins in regards to this as he did not know anyone personally who could render down such an animal. If he did his studying on goblin customs and business negotiation he may even get a good price for the services. Harry had also read that a creature such as a basilisk who is an inherently magical creature just like a dragon, did not begin to decay until long after the death of the animal due to the inherent magic keeping the creature preserved, so he would have plenty of time to deal with the goblins over summer, although he determined to do the business negotiations as soon as possible so it was out of the way so he and Hermione could concentrate on learning for the book as well as their new relationship. Looking at Hermione who was perusing another tome on magical creatures, Harry could not believe they had gone from best friends to boyfriend and girlfriend within a few days. Certainly he did not deny that he felt strongly for Hermione. She was the most important person in his life, which was kind of scary considering he hadn't known her for that long, but it was also comforting that he knew she would always be there just like he would also be there always for her. If the book helped in this, then so much the better.

Hermione, who had caught harry looking at her from the corner of her eye as she read, smiled to herself as she reached over with her left hand and took his hand in hers and brought it to her lap where she continued to hold it. She was overjoyed at the new relationship as she had had a crush on Harry ever since he had saved her from the troll in their first year. She had seen from the very beginning that he was uncomfortable with the way that Ron bullied and belittled her, but saw he was unsure what to do in regards to it. Finding out later on that Ron had been his first friend had gone a long way to explaining why he didn't know what to do as he was afraid to do something to drive his first friend away. Just as she had made this observation, it also didn't take her much time to realise that Harry had probably dragged Ron along when Harry had realised she was not at the feast and did not know about the troll. Thinking on it later on after the terror had subsided, her heart had melted at the bravery Harry had shown when he had jumped on the back of that troll. She had also been relieved when Harry had come through the encounter unhurt. Although from that time, as far as Hermione Granger was concerned, Harry's fate was sealed, he just didn't know it yet. He was now the property of Hermione Granger.

She had been subsequently over the moon when he had drawn her aside at the start of the year to explain the whole flying car incident. It had touched her that her opinion had meant so much to him. She had melted inside again when Harry had expressed to her how much she meant to him and that she was really his best friend. She had wanted to squish him in a big hug there and then and admitted in the recesses of her own mind that she also wanted to snog him senseless, but there was a reason why it was in the corner of her mind, as she did not feel ready for that yet.

She too had noticed when Ronald had started to drift away when Harry began to come under suspicion for the chamber of secrets and even more so when it was revealed he was a parceltongue. In a way while she was angry, she was also exultant as it meant she got to spend all the more time with Harry by themselves. It was at this point when Hermione realised that Harry had been holding back in his classes. It took a while for her to get the story out of him but eventually he told her about how the Dursley family was responsible as he was severely punished if he did better than his cousin. The habit just continued on when he came to Hogwarts, especially as he was insecure about his friendship with Ron. Hermione did not berate him and did not lecture him. She knew it was something he could not help, but was determined to help Harry to overcome it by encouraging him. In fact the disappearance of Ron from their group more and more often helped this greatly as Harry no longer had to compare himself to Ron. Instead he was next to a girl who wanted him to try and do his best. She had seen the look of shock on his face when she had congratulated him when he had achieved the spell in transfiguration ahead of her.

When Professor McGonagall had cottoned on to something being different and has asked about it, Harry's admission to her had seemed to be a little easier, as if letting Hermione know previously had enabled him to more easily open up. Professor McGonagall had also been understanding and had told both of them if they ever needed any help or advice, that her door was always open. Both of them had been surprised at this but Hermione had later determined that the Professor had probably been feeling bad about not having listened to them at the end of their first year when they had come to her about the Philosopher's Stone. Both of them had felt touched at her offer and had promised to come to her if they felt in need. Hermione had felt closer and closer to Harry throughout the remaining time they had before the event that she regretted the most. She had gone off to the library with an idea in her head and did not consider at all her own safety and was so excited at the leap her logic had made that she forgot to tell Harry her suspicions as well. She was supremely lucky that Penelope Clearwater had been in the library at the same time and had provided the compact mirror when she had shown her the page about the basilisk and had explained her conclusions, something which had impressed the sixth year prefect. Moments before she had been petrified and everything went grey, the only thought in her head was that she had failed Harry and how would he solve the mystery now.

She had been so proud of Harry when she had found out how he had come to solve the mystery behind the chamber and the monster, how he had found the parchment in her hand and deduced that Myrtle had been the previous victim. She had been terrified for him, but also incredibly proud and impressed by his bravery when he told of entering the chamber by himself after the cave-in caused by the defence professor. Finding out that there was a magical tome of knowledge that was over a thousand years old and self-updating that had been created by Salazar Slytherin was akin to finding the Holy Grail in Hermione's mind and she could tell that Harry was nearly as excited as she was by the prospect. Hermione was also very proud of how Harry had managed to free Dobby and to bond him as a friend rather than a servant. She was a little irked though when he told her that there were some surprises in store as he had made a few requests of Dobby which he would reveal once they had left Hogwarts.

The two second year students put their books away once they had discovered the information they needed about the creature laws and spent the rest of the day talking with their year mates, particularly Neville Longbottom and Faye Dunbar, who seemed to be perfectly agreeable people although they were a little quiet but soon opened up after Harry and Hermione made friendly overtures to the pair. They then spent a fun evening playing gob-stones and exploding snap.

The two spent the next week reading through the introductory chapters of the book. The book first instructed that in order to learn all they could from the book, first they had to protect their minds and enhance their bodies to be able to take the training. Apparently occlumency, which is the art most used in modern times to protect the mind, is a pale shadow compared to the mind defences taught within the book. As the defences taught are so much more in depth and complexity, they will take much longer to learn, but their minds will be protected at an early stage with extra defences and details being added once the initial defences were up. The couple read that psychic powers, which a lot of non-magicals claimed to have, can actually be fuelled by magic, meaning that once their mind is sufficiently trained, they will be gods within their own minds and able to do nearly miraculous feats within their minds. They therefore began the long process of organising their minds and memories in preparation for laying the groundwork for their defences. It was convenient that they had no classes during this time, which meant they were away from those who could detect the changes within their minds such as Snape and Dumbledore. By the time they returned from their holidays, their minds would be protected and unable to be penetrated by a mere legilimency attack.

Enhancing the body was also a long process that involved a particular aspect of magic which was considered obscure and most of which was also classified as dark by the ministry of magic, according to the book. This was because the majority of the enhancements were done using rituals and most particularly sacrificial rituals. However, after reading the prerequisites for most rituals and seeing a list of the ones that Salazar recommended from his own studies, they determined that the most required from them would be the sacrifice of some animals. This to them was a lot more acceptable compared to some of the darker rituals that were detailed in the book, such as the taking of a virgin's lifeblood while being deflowered; something which they both agreed they would never partake in. As the wards of Hogwarts would be able to detect such spikes in magic as when a sacrificial ritual being performed would make, the couple decided to wait until they reached their homes as Harry lived close to an undeveloped forested area and they hoped they could find a clearing which they could them make use of.

They found though that during the last couple of weeks that they had tasks to perform for the rituals they would do. This was because while the rituals often contained sacrifices such as blood or the life of an animal, it also required either the consumption of a potion, a potion to be used to drawn runes, or the burning of certain herbs and plants. This meant that a lot of their time was spent making their way along the edges of the forbidden forest, harvesting plants and herbs for their rituals, storing them in jars that had runes etched for preservation on them in order to keep the ingredients within fresh. Once or twice, the two went into the forest in order to gather certain plants they knew they had no chance of getting unless they purchased them from an apothecary and why should they spend good money when they had a fresh and more importantly free supply available? They therefore gathered moss from the ancient trees as well as certain types of mushrooms and toadstools and other plants and lichens that were abundant within the forest. By the time the end of term came, both teens were sure that they had the majority of the ingredients needed for their rituals except for the animals as well as some other ingredients they would need to get from an apothecary as they are simply too rare to be able to gather themselves. Dobby proved to be a great help during this time as they needed more room than they had in their trunks to store all of the ingredients they needed. As Harry's bonded elf, Dobby had access to Harry's vault and therefore was able to procure a potions masters trunk, complete with all the implements and jars needed to gather potions ingredients. There was also a rendering kit for rendering down animal parts, but Harry would rather leave the basilisk to an expert as the carcass from what he learned was simply too valuable to try and do it himself.

It also helped that Hermione agreed with his decision about hiring the goblins. He had decided to keep all of the money himself as he had risked his life to kill the animal. Those who missed out on their schooling during the year should really be handled by the school as it wasn't Harry's responsibility to supply such help. He had, after all, removed the threat that petrified them in the first place. Hermione supported this decision as well, particularly when she had first gotten a proper look at the monster and realised exactly how much danger Harry had been in and how close he had been to dying from the basilisk bite. They both silently agreed never to mention to Ron exactly how much Harry would make from the basilisk as Ron would either get jealous that Harry was now even richer or would demand where his part of the proceeds were, never minding the fact that he was never in danger and did not help to kill the creature. They finished packing their belongings later that night before the feast and made sure all of their items were safely stowed away. Harry's trunk now looked a lot different as his new trunk was a five compartment model with a large amount of storage in the last compartment which he used to store all of the items he and Hermione would need to use during the summer. Deciding they were both done and Harry's trunk was secure from prying eyes and fingers (Ron), the couple made their way, hand-in-hand down to the great hall to enjoy the leaving feast for their second year.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

A/N: Here is chapter 3. Not too much to say at the moment. Thank you for the reviewer two pointed me to more information for WOW.

Sorry for the delay but health hasn't been very good.

Having arrived at the home of the Dursleys, Harry took his Uncle aside and made a deal with the man. Although he did dislike his uncle, he knew that the man was a consummate businessman. Harry made a deal where Vernon would give him the freedom to do what he wanted during the day and to come and go as he wanted to from the house. He had no chores this summer and no expectations of him, except not to be anywhere near the house during the day and not to disturb the other residents of the house. All this cost him was 1000 pounds that he would pay Vernon at the end of his stay with his relatives. Vernon's eyes had gleamed with greed at the thought of the money and being the consummate businessman that he was, did not want to know or care where the money came from, as long as it was in his hands at the end of the freak's stay. Harry, who knew that essentially it was only costing him 20 galleons for his Uncle's cooperation for his summer plans, didn't really care about the money as he had never had any money before he had joined the wizarding world and knew that the basilisk, according to the books he and Hermione had read would be worth quite a lot once it was rendered down to its constituent parts.

The morning after Harry arrived home, he stepped out of his relative's home and made his way down the street and over to Magnolia Crescent in order to make sure his relatives would not be able to see him. Taking his wand out from beneath his sleeve, harry raised his wand in the air and thought of summoning the knight bus that Hermione had told him about. With a huge bang, the triple decker violently purple bus appeared in front of him and screeched to a halt. Harry barely managed to maintain his balance as the bus screeched to a halt in front of him due to his own surprise at the bus's appearance. A pimple-faced conductor with large ears that stuck out from the sides of his head like wings stepped out of the bus and holding a small card before him proceeded to reel off his little speech about the knight bus and its abilities. Harry, who was sure that he would be using this form of travel extensively during the holidays, asked the conductor once the introduction was done

"Stan, is there some kind of pass I can purchase for multiple uses of the bus during the summer? I know I will be spending a lot of time travelling to the alley this summer and know it will soon build up."

Stan smiled his crooked-toothed grin and Harry wondered for a moment whether Hermione's parents would consider opening up a shop in diagon Alley, as the number of people with bad teeth or no teeth at all was quite large. He figured they would probably make a small fortune if they did so and put it in the back of his mind for later discussion with his best friend. Stan in the meantime began talking

"Yes indeed we do sir. We have what we call the Hogwarts Student holiday pass. It will cost you 4 galleons and will cover you for travel on the knight bus up to and including the 1st of September, so you can even travel to the express with the pass." Harry, who knew he would definitely spend more than four galleons, particularly if he used the knight bus to catch the train, easily agreed to the price and money quickly changed hands and Harry was given a purple card with the insignia of the knight bus on it with his name. Stan was a little shocked and awestruck when he realised who he just sold a bus pass to and Harry was more than happy to shake the boy's hand, especially since he had so easily solved a dilemma for him. Stepping on board, Harry quickly moved to a large armchair that was bolted to the floor of the bus and sank into it. The doors of the bus quickly shut with a bang and with another, louder bang, the bus took off for what Harry considered one of the more terrifying rides of his life thus far. Considering one of his rides was concluded with crashing into the womping willow at full speed and the other was riding in the same car away from the Acramantula nest, that was saying something. Since the driver of the knight bus had only the vaguest idea of how to drive it seemed, Harry was also appreciative of the magic that allowed the objects outside to leap away from the bus and then move back into place once the infernal machine had passed.

The bus stooped at several other stops before it finally screeched to a halt in front of the Leaky Cauldron in Charring Cross Road. Harry, feeling quite nauseous after the ride, staggered off the bus and giving a weak thank you to Stan, turned and entered the pub. Harry wasn't sure if he would be able to make it all the way through the alley without puking, so he first found an empty booth to sit at and once Tom approached, Harry asked for a cup of tea. Tom, taking one look at Harry's face, asked with a slight smile

"Which is it? The Floo or the Knight Bus?" Harry, grimacing and realising at the same time that his reaction must be somewhat common, responded

"The Knight Bus." Tom nodded with understanding and then made his way back to the bar. He reappeared a few minutes later with a cup of tea and a potion vial. Handing the vial to Harry, he answered the question he could see in Harry's eyes

"A stomach soothing potion. I keep a stock of them especially for people who travel by magic for the first time. You do eventually get used to it, but the first time can be quite hard. I'll come back in a few minutes to see if you want anything else." Harry nodded in gratitude and thanked Tom for his kindness. Tipping back the vial, he quickly drained the potion and felt his nausea quickly dissipate as the potion took effect. By the time Tom came back, he felt fine enough to order and English breakfast. Harry was soon tucking into his meal and within 10 minutes had completely demolished the meal. Harry paid Tom and gave him a tip in thanks for the stomach relieving potion, for which Tom thanked him with another toothless grin.

Harry then made his way out of the pub and into the rear courtyard. Moving to the area next to the bins, he took out his wand and tapped the bricks in the required manner. Harry watched as the bricks folded themselves back and formed into the archway that led into Diagon Alley. Once the bricks had finished their movements, Harry made his way through and made his way directly to Gringots. Nodding to the guards who stood outside the doors to the bank and receiving a nod back in return, Harry entered the halls of the bank. The crowd inside the bank was light this morning, for which Harry was grateful as he didn't feel like wasting a long time waiting for wizards to get their business done with. Soon enough, Harry stood in front of a goblin. The goblin looked at him carefully and asked

"How can Gringots help you today, wizard?" Harry cleared his throat and asked

"Is there someone I can talk to about my account? I have questions regarding my legacy." The goblin scrutinised him for a moment and then asked

"Do you have your key?" Harry nodded and handed the small golden key over. The goblin scrutinised the key for a moment and then nodded, handing the key back. He motioned over to a row of seats and said as he stepped down from his stool

"Please take a seat. Someone will be here shortly to take you to see someone regarding your account." Harry nodded in thanks and quickly walked over and sat down in a plush seat and waited patiently.

A few minutes passed when a goblin courier came up to Harry and addressed him.

"Mr Potter, please follow me." Harry rose from his seat and nodding to the goblin followed him through a door in the rear of the room and through a maze of corridors. They eventually reached a door which the goblin then knocked upon. Upon hearing a voice commanding them to enter, the goblin indicated Harry to follow, which he did. They entered and the goblin approached the desk behind which a formidable looking goblin sat. He appeared to be about twice the size of the courier and his office was decorated with a large war axe and various trophies consisting of the skulls of different animals, including a few human skulls if Harry wasn't wrong.

"Account Manager Sharpaxe, I bring before you Harry Potter who has questions regarding his account." The courier introduced Harry. The account manager nodded and dismissed the courier and indicated for Harry to sit in one of the chairs before his desk. Once Harry had done so, the account manager took out a piece of parchment and a quill that Harry later identified as a blood quill. Placing the items in front of Harry, Sharpaxe indicated them and said

"Before we can discuss your account I need to fully verify that you are who you say you are. The quill is called a blood quill and by treaty the goblin nation are the only ones allowed to use this item as it writes with your own blood. Write on the parchment your full name and the parchment will verify your identity." Harry nodded and taking up the quill, he bent over the parchment and wrote 'Harry James Potter'. As soon as he laid down the quill the goblin picked up the quill ad conjuring a glass of water, he dipped the quill in it, rinsing off the remainder of Harry's blood. Seeing Harry's enquiring look, the goblin explained

"Mr Potter, the reason I am doing this is that blood is very sacred in the magical world. It can be used in a number of different rituals to enslave, coerce or hurt you. I would advise you if you ever need to use your blood that you make sure it is used for the intended purpose and the remainder is disposed of, like so." Upon saying this, the goblin vanished the glass containing the blood-infused water and returned the quill to his drawer. Harry nodded in agreement and reminded himself to also let Hermione know this as well.

The account manager then leant forward and picking up the parchment, he looked it over. Looking up at Harry, he indicated the parchment and said

"Mr Potter, the parchment indicates that you are indeed who you say you are. What would you like to know?"

Harry sat back and crossed his legs and with a quick thought answered the goblin.

"I do not know anything about my holdings other than my vault that I use for school supplies. I have not received statements or any other correspondence from the bank so therefore I do not even know the balance of the current vault I use." On hearing this, the goblin took out a large ledger and perused through it until he found the information he wanted. Looking back at Harry, he said

"The reason why you have not received correspondence from the bank is that we are aware, through your magical guardian that you live with muggles. We also were made aware through your mother before she died that they are not particularly friendly towards the magical world and would most likely try to take advantage of you if they knew of your holdings with us. In this thread of though, the management made a decision that we would not send correspondence until after your 13th birthday. This is because you gain partial access to the other Potter family assets at 13 other than your trust vault and therefore the information you receive would be more likely to be able to be acted upon." Harry thought about this for a moment and admitted to himself that it made sense. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that if the Dursleys found out that he had money, their dislike for magic would not hold them back from trying to gain access from it. Therefore he nodded in acceptance at this and enquired

"I understand. Are you able to tell me who my magical guardian is?" The goblin did not even hesitate before he answered

"Albas Dumbledore." Harry nodded and this made sense as to why Dumbledore also had a say in where he stayed during the summer. Deciding to ask further questions that the goblins initial response gave him, Harry asked

"So what access will I receive when I turn 13?" Sharpaxe looked through the ledger again and took out the parchment containing his parent's will and said

"According to your parent's will, you are to receive access to the main family vault at 13, but only to access items within the vault, not the money. Your trust vault is to be used for your monetary concerns until you turn 17 or are emancipated earlier. However, you are encouraged at the age of 13 to play an active role in investments for the main vault as well as being able to invest using your trust vault." Harry nodded at this while his mind processed through the opportunity this would present to him very shortly. He was sure that there were many books within the vault as well as hopefully, family journals. He would also need to research regarding investments as well so he was prepared for when his birthday came.

Thinking for a moment, Harry raised an eyebrow at something Sharpaxe mentioned and wanting further information, enquired

"Regarding my parents will, I would like to know who they wanted to be my guardians. I doubt very much if they held such a poor opinion of my relatives that they would want me to be staying with them." Sharpaxe nodded and taking a quick look through the will, said

"Indeed, the people who were listed as your guardians were Frank and Alice Longbottom, however they were disabled the same night your parents were attacked and currently reside in the long-term spell damage ward at St. Mungos. The other people listed were Margaret McKinnon who was killed shortly before your parents were. The final person is your godfather Sirius Orion Black. He however resides in Azkaban prison for betraying your parents and the death of Peter Pettigrew and 12 muggles." Harry thought about this for a moment and realised that really there may not have been much choice in regards to his guardians. He did remember that Dumbledore had said something about his relatives place being safe and figured if Mr Weasley represented an expert in muggle technology, that most wizards would not have an idea about how to locate someone within the muggle world. Not only that but if Professor Dumbledore put protections on his home as well, something which he did not doubt, then he was doubly safe. Harry realised that now he was at Hogwarts all he needed to do was to keep out of his relatives way for the month he was required to stay at their place, then he could go and do whatever he wanted for the rest of the summer.

Thanking the goblin for his help and organising for statements to now be sent to him, Harry made an appointment with the goblin on his birthday in order to discuss investment strategy and to sign documents accepting his new access to his vaults. Harry then took a trip down to his vault and put roughly 2000 galleons in his money pouch. After he had made his way back up to the ground floor of the bank, Harry made his way to the owl post office and using the parchment supplied, wrote a letter to Hermione asking her to meet him in Magnolia crescent at the park tomorrow if she wasn't doing anything and they would search out a spot in order to do the rituals they had selected. Taking the parchment up to the counter, the post clerk showed him how to seal his parchment by tapping it with his wand and once Harry paid, sent the mail off with an owl. Harry left the post office and stepping into a side alley, he took out his cloak from the backpack he had brought with him and put it on. The cloak was a black one with a hood, which he pulled up so he was anonymous. He then took a deep breath and taking a step out of the alley, headed to the entrance of Nocturne Alley. Entering the alley, Harry wasn't surprised to see that the alley looked exactly the same as the start of his second year. However, now that he was covered in his cloak, he looked much the same as everyone else in the alley who were all minding their own business as they went about their tasks. Harry decided that the first thing he would do was to explore the whole alley so he had an idea of what was actually in the alley. This whole endeavour took him three quarters of an hour, but he discovered that despite the reputation that the alley had, a majority of the shops were actually quite like the shops in Diagon Alley. Harry suspected that many of these shops were in Nocturne alley because their owners could not afford the fees to rent a place of business in Diagon Alley. Harry was actually amused to discover that most of what he considered the dark and creepy shops were actually more towards the entry of Diagon Alley, so acted like a barrier to prevent the good people from Diagon to enter this alley. Harry wondered if this was on purpose.

After having made his circuit of the alley, Harry made his way to an apothecary he saw during his circuit. Opening the door to the shop, he was surprised to find that unlike the shop in Diagon Alley, this shop was actually very clean, although the outside façade was much like the other shops, old and decrepit. There was no smell inside, unlike the shop in Diagon and all of the ingredients were in jars and labelled neatly. There were also a selection of different cauldrons hanging from the ceiling as well as a small section that contained a number of books on potions. Harry, his interest peaked, moved over to this section first and browsed the books. Even though the book he had from Salazar Slytherin had a compendium of material, including potions, Harry decided not to limit himself by reading that book only. Other authors often described the same subject in different ways and could get their points across better sometimes and this would help him overall with a combination of both the book from Salazar as well as other reading material. In no way did Harry distrust the book as much of the information he and Hermione had read already had been cross referenced and verified within the Hogwarts library but limiting yourself to one source of material could limit learning as well. Taking down 3 of the books that he decided were worth buying and leaving them on the counter, Harry then took out a piece of parchment which had a list of the ingredients on it that he required. He walked along, collecting rheum horn, Dementor's bone, mermaid scales, werewolf fangs, vampire's teeth and salamander scales. He also collected a series of other ingredients which formed a part of the ritual, such as fluxweed and moon thistle. By the time he was finished, Harry had collected quite a collection of esoteric ingredients which made the shop keepers eyes open wide at not only the variety and what they were, but also the amount of gold he would make from this purchase.

"That will be 400 galleons sir." The shop keeper said after he totalled up the amount. Harry nodded and took out the amount for the shop keeper. Once he had paid and packed all of the ingredients away in a bottomless satchel the shopkeeper had provided free of charge since his order was so large, Harry requested and was given an owl order form that was self-updating so he would be able to owl-order ingredients and materials in future. Taking out another 10 galleons, Harry asked the shop keeper

"Are you able to recommend a place where I would be able to purchase a ritual dagger?" The shop keeper took the 10 galleons and thinking, he said

"If you take a right after you leave the shop, about 10 shops down and across the way there is a shop that has no name but the window has different face masks on display. If you go into this shop, you will find they will have whatever you need for performing rituals." Harry bowed slightly in acknowledgement to the shop keeper and said

"I thank you for your service and information. If your information proves true, I will guarantee that I will use your services the next time I require ingredients. Fare thee well." Nodding, the shop keeper bid him farewell and Harry left the shop. Making his way down, Harry soon found the shop in question. The masks in the window looked hideous and would probably have put Harry off of entering if he had not been told that they would be able to help him. Once Harry stepped inside, Harry saw that indeed, the shop seemed to have everything one would ever need for performing rituals. Candles of all sizes surrounded the shelves as well as different gems, bones and other items. Walking up to the counter, Harry saw that the clerk was a tall, muscular man who looked like he would not put up with any shit from anyone.

"Hello. I am looking for a ritual dagger. It must be made of obsidian with silver inlay." Harry informed the clerk who smiled as he appreciated that Harry knew what he was talking about. Reaching under the desk, he rummaged around for a moment before drawing out a wooden case which when opened was in lay with velvet. Within the box lay 3 daggers. All of them were made of obsidian and had the requisite silver inlay. However, the middle dagger for some reason called to Harry's magic as he felt a pull from his chest. Harry indicated the dagger he required. The clerk took out the dagger and put it into a black leather sheath and laid it on the counter.

"That will be 100 galleons sir." The man said. Harry nodded and gave the man the money without complaint and placed the dagger in the satchel along with the potion ingredients. Once done, Harry made his way out of Nocturne Alley and was pleased that he made it through his shopping without being accosted by anyone. Once he reached Diagon Alley, Harry quickly returned to the Leaky Cauldron and once outside, summoned the knight bus and returned back to his summer residence.

Bypassing the residential area where his home was, he cut through the park and entered the woods and began exploring the area to determine where the best place would be for their rituals. He knew it had to be a good-sized clearing, but also had to be remote enough that they were unlikely to be disturbed. After walking through the woods for about 15 minutes, he came across a large clearing which he thought was almost perfect for his purposes. The clearing was roughly circular with trees surrounding all sides. As the trees were fairly close together and their branches spread fairly wide into the clearing,, grass had not grown in the clearing. All that was in the clearing were dead leaves, which would be perfect to hide any residual effects on the ground from the rituals being performed. Having decided on the clearing, Harry made his way back to the park, carefully plotting out the route to the clearing so he would not miss it on his return with Hermione tomorrow.

Arriving back at his relatives house, Harry went into the back-yard and began tidying up the garden from the previous year, as his Aunt as usual had been lazy in the up-keep of the garden, leaving it all to him for when he returned. In doing this though, Harry found that there were several rodents within the garden, hiding among the weeds. Since his reflexes had been enhanced by the ritual he had conducted in the chamber of secrets, he managed to catch them quite easily. He easily caught two of the mice and trapped them in a container he had prepared earlier by poking holes in the lid. Harry then put the container in the garden shed, making sure to hide it from plain sight as well as making sure there was some food in the container for the mice. He didn't dare take them inside as he knew if his Aunt caught him she would freak out more than usual. Knowing that the whole garden would take weeks to bring back to its pre-Hogwarts glory, Harry tidied up the edges of the garden to begin with and removed the tallest of the weeds that were the easiest to remove as well as trimming some of the bushes around the perimeter of the garden, so it looked like he did a lot more than he actually had. Even though Vernon had agreed to give him no chores, Harry was proud of his abilities with the garden and it annoyed him to see what a bad state it was in due to his Aunt's laziness. Shrugging, Harry cleaned up and decided that tomorrow he would also stock up on food so that he had a good diet despite what his relative stride to feed him. Harry had also researched and would conduct a ritual soon that would enable him to absorb the maximum amount of nutrients possible from the food he consumed so that he would not suffer from malnutrition if he was forced to eat the meagre portions his Aunt usually fed him, particularly considering last summer. Harry promised himself there would be no way he would allow his relatives decisions to affect him the same way again. By the time he had arrived at the Weasleys last summer he had lost over 10 kilograms, which on a frame that could not afford to lose much weight to begin with, could have caused him a lot of health risks later on if he had to repaired his body with the ritual.

Early the next morning found Harry walking back from a local café where he had eaten his breakfast. He made his way to Magnolia Crescent and sat against one of the trees near one of the local parks to wait on his friend's arrival. He felt fairly safe being out like this as it was way too early for Dudley and his brain cooperative to even be awake yet, let alone be out and about looking for trouble. Casting a small wand-less notice-me-not charm on himself that he had learnt from the book, he took out the book in question and began reviewing the rituals that he and Hermione had agreed upon as well as looking over other rituals to be conducted in future.

One of the areas that he had started to read into was the art of life and death as the book called it. The idea that he could summon the spirits of his ancestors to speak to and learn about his family was one that appealed to him. He had tried throughout his two years at Hogwarts to get information about his parents from the professors, but the only information he had received was very basic information. It was almost as if they had been instructed to tell him nothing, the lack of information given that Harry had at last given up on the living. However he would discuss it further with Hermione before deciding to pursue this path, although the benefits of learning the art as described was more than intriguing.

With a sudden loud bang, the Knight bus suddenly appeared on the street with a screech of brakes. The doors swung open and Hermione stepped off, looking to be in better condition than Harry on his last trip on that infernal bus. Dispelling his charm, Harry put the book away and rose to his feet and walked over to meet Hermione. Once the bus had disappeared with another bang, Harry approached Hermione and drawing her into a hug, gave her a kiss, which she returned eagerly and with a sigh of satisfaction. Taking her hand, Harry then led her on a circuitous route to the wooded area he had found so that they in no way approached his residence. For one thing, Harry did not know what the wards may do to another magical person and whether Dumbledore would get huffy if someone from school came to his house, but he also did not want his girlfriend to meet his relatives.

Squeezing his hand, Hermione smiled at him and asked

"So what have you been up to the last couple of days?" Harry smiled and gave her a brief overview of what he had done and how he had found an area he thought would be good for them to begin the rituals they had discussed. He also talked about his trip into Nocturne Alley and his surprise at how different the alley was further in compared to the entry from Diagon.

"I assume it is exactly how we surmised earlier when we were looking over the history of Salazar and question why the old magics were no longer used. The ones in Diagon Alley are the ones who conform to the new ministry of magic standards and mostly consists of the everyday wizarding population. Then you have a barrier of sorts being the entrance to Nocturne Alley to keep those from Diagon out. Then there are those who still practice the old ways which can consist of the older, more ancient wizarding families and those who are either more grey or darker in nature, at least according to the ministry. They are the ones who use the proper Nocturne Alley, which would also explain why the materials we needed were only found in that area." Hermione explained to Harry, who nodded in agreement.

They entered the wooded area and after another half an hour, they arrived at the clearing that Harry had begun to set up early that morning. All of the materials were arranged under one tree along with the container holding the mice Harry had captured. They both walked over to a large oak at the other side of the clearing and sat down, continuing to talk. Turning to Harry, Hermione then fixed him with a mock stern expression and said

"Okay Mr Potter, I have been patient enough. What did you send Dobby off to do just before the start of the holidays?" Harry grinned at the reminder and called out

"Dobby!" With a crack, Dobby appeared in front of the couple. He was bouncing eagerly on his feet and looked a lot better than he had the last time the teens saw him. Gone was the bandages that had nearly covered his whole body and the couple could not see any of the scars which had littered his body. In place of the pillow case he had worn before, Dobby now wore a child's pair of khaki shorts with pockets on the thighs and a t-shirt with 'Merry Christmas ya filthy animal!' on the front in white lettering. Both Harry and Hermione were stunned at the transformation and even more at the t-shirt. Hermione was the first to come out of her shock though as she burst into a fit of giggles at the sight before her. Harry, also coming out of his stunned silence, grinned at Dobby and gave him a thumbs up, saying

"Love the new uniform, Dobby." Dobby bounced even higher in his excitement at Harry's approval and said

"Thankyou Harry Potter sir. Dobby sensed you were happy for Dobby to choose what he wanted to wear, so Dobby found this appropriate for now." Hermione, who was hiccupping slightly from laughter, looked at Dobby and said

"I am glad to see you are looking so well Dobby. Harry told me how horribly you had been treated before." Dobby's smile got wider if possible and he replied

"Thank you Miss 'Mion. When Harry Potter sir bonded Dobby as his friend, this allowed Dobby's magic to heal Dobby and remove the scars associated with his service to former masters." Harry nodded at this explanation and then asked

"Dobby, did you manage to do as I requested? Did you have any trouble?" Dobby's grin grew somewhat evil, causing Hermione to look at Harry suspiciously.

"Oh Dobby did as you asked Harry Potter sir. Dobby had no problem as former masters had not reset the wards to prevent Dobby to come back in. Dobby retrieved all of the books that the former masters owned." Saying this, Dobby took out a small matchbox-sized object and handed it to Harry. Hermione recognised it as a shrunken trunk and looked at Harry in surprise.

"You asked Dobby to steal all of the books from the Malfoys?" Hermione asked Harry in disbelief. Harry grinned and nodded, saying

"I figured that Lucius would be so mad that he would forget something small like blocking Dobby from the wards. I therefore asked our friend if he would go and relieve Lucius of all of that knowledge." Hermione just looked at him in shock for a moment before he continued on

"I also had a similar thought to you that the older families might actually hold a lot of the old magics knowledge that the book also contained and so thought this would be an excellent opportunity to get out hands on it." Dobby then interrupted, looking entirely too smug for a house elf and said

"Oh Harry Potter sir, I not only got all of the books from Malfoy Manor, but also all of the books from the Malfoy vault. Old masters also forgot to block dobby's access to their vault as well. Dobby knows that Harry Potter sir has enough money so Dobby did not get the money, just the books." Harry and Hermione could only look at Dobby in shock for a while before both smiled at Dobby and Hermione reached forward and gave Dobby a large hug.

"You are wonderful Dobby!" Hermione proclaimed and Harry saw a house elf blush for the first time. Deciding to look at the books later, the two teens rose to their feet and began the preparation for their rituals, while Dobby watched on. They both asked Dobby that if anything went wrong, he was to take them as soon as possible to St Mungos for treatment. Dobby nodded gravely, understanding their trust in him, but also having faith in his friends that they would not fail. Once their preparations were ready, they then began chanting.


End file.
